Chapter 7.2

“Oi. Kachel Mieghem”

“Hiieee!”

I called out to the pale-faced Kachel as he shivered in fear.

“Answer me. Private tutor, Kachel Mieghem”

“…A-A-Ah”

“I couldn’t hear you very well. Repeat it. What did you plan to do with my family?”

“Eek! Gyah. Gyaaaahhhh!!”

Kachel desperately held his arm.

“Speak. You’re a tutor, aren’t you? Answer the child’s question”

“Damn you. Damn you. Damn you!!!”

“That wasn’t what I was talking about”

With the ‘Body Strengthening, Boosted’ x2 spell still active, I kicked the ground again.

Kachel raised his arm and deployed a protective barrier in an attempt to stop the incoming dagger.

However, it was too late.

“Gyaaaahhhh!!”

My dagger avoided the protective barrier and cut into Kachel’s left arm.

Despite what just happened, he continued to chant in that state, so I leaped away before the spell could be activated.

“What did you just say about my family? Let me hear it again. If you’re not planning on saying anything, then you should have said so from the beginning. You’re just wasting time here. Private tutor, Kachel” 

I raise my dagger again.

“Please wait!”

shouted Princess Iris.

“You must not kill that man! Yuuki Grossalia-sama!!”

“…Why not?”

“Kachel may be a worshipper of the taboo ‘Sanctuary Church, Elysium Temple’! We should keep him alive to get more information ──”

“He insulted my family”

In my previous life, I could only protect Lyle and the others ── my family, by disappearing.

But in this life, I can use ‘Ancient Magic’, too.

So, anyone who hurts, insulted, or took advantage of my family, I will beat them up, no questions asked.

“Besides… this guy tried to hurt you, too. So I’m going to kill him”

“Y-You bastard! I used your brother, so what?!!”

Kachel shouted as blood dripped from his arm.

“Your brother…! You the illegitimate child…!! He… He looked down on you!!!”

“That’s because you induced him to do so”

“Your brother… cursed you… and… tried to take you down!” 

“Brothers fight, don’t they? That’s something that humans do”

Rather, he really fought with the ‘Monster, Nosferatu’, didn’t he?

Xellos nii-sama can be surprisingly forgiving.

“But you’re a lost cause. The moment you tried to use my family for your greed, I couldn’t think of anything else but to kill you”

“G-Guoooaaahhh!!”

*CLANG* 

My dagger was stopped by Kachel’s magic barrier.

“I’ve already… finished… drawing the crest and… chanting. Activating ‘Ancient Artifact Replica’. Catalyst summoning ──”

Kachel threw down a gray shard on the ground that looked like a catalyst for summoning magic.

A magic circle then appeared around the catalyst.

I turn my gaze towards the gray shard…. It’s a monster’s wing.

So I try to recall my memories. 

What type of wing was that? I remember seeing it several times in my previous life. A monster with wings. Cockatrice? No, it’s bigger than that.

“A griffin!?”

“Correct, brat!!”

A huge magic barrier formed in front of Kachel.

What a pain in the ass!

“I didn’t think I’d have to use my trump card here, though! This is the griffin’s wing used by the priests of the ‘Sanctuary Church, Elysium Temple’. I’m going to kill all of you and take Her Royal Highness as my captive!!”

“All of you! Draw your sword!! Protect Her Royal Highness!!”

The soldiers began to line up and draw their swords.

Her Royal Highness unleashes the ‘Ancient Magic’, ‘Fire God’s Relentless Barrage, Ifrit Blow’.

But still, Kachel’s barrier is unbreakable.

Odd. Did Kachel have this much magic power?

If he was this strong, he should have been a high-ranking mage in the ‘Magic Guild’.

“Now, my familiar! Trample the soldiers down and take Her Royal Highness into my hands!!”

‘Giiiiieeeeee!!’

A griffin emerged from the magic circle.

‘Ancient Magic’ is truly amazing. It can even summon such a monster.

The griffin is a monster with the upper body of an eagle and the lower body of a lion.

They are about the size of a small house. The scary parts are their beak and claws and their aerial attacks.

“Go! Kill all the soldiers!!”

‘Giiiiieeeeee!!’

Before I knew it, Kachel was straddling the griffin’s back.

The griffin continues to rise out of the magic circle.

“Listen! The griffin’s weapons are its beak, claws, and hind legs! It can’t use its beak with a person on its back because it would lose its balance! The claws’ attack range is in front of its body. Its hind legs’ attack range is just right behind it! Both attacks can’t reach the side of its body. Attack it right below the base of the wings!!”

I shouted.

“H-How do you know all this!? Yuuki Grossalia-sama!!”

“I heard it from someone I know!”

“T-That’s amazing. To know even that…. Understood! Soldiers, form a square!! Shields out. Swords through the gap! I’ll attack with magic!!”

“Yuuki Grossalia!! You-!!!”

*Thud!*

Kachel yelled out a war cry as the griffin’s claws struck the soldiers’ shields.

However, the soldiers’ defense did not crumble. They all huddle together and cover each other.

“You! Illegitimate child! Those who don’t even know their origin always get in the way!!”

“I don’t care”

Griffin feathers are a type of magical ingredient.

That’s why I’ve also used them in my research. So naturally, I’ve hunted them before.

Don’t underestimate the ‘Immortal Mage, Lord of Nosferatu’.

“Here I go! ‘Fire God’s Relentless Barrage, Ifrit Blow’!!”

“Protect Her Royal Highness Princess Iris!!”

The princess unleashed her magic just as the griffin descended, and the soldiers raised their swords to attack it.

But none managed to hit the griffin.

It is extremely difficult to hit an enemy that is flying around at high speed.

“Did you see that? This is the legacy of the ‘Sanctuary Church, Elysium Temple’!! It’s sheer stupidity to declare it taboo! If you disagree, then you can try to defeat me!!”

“Very well. Come! Dick!!”

‘Master ──── !!’ ‘Gii’ ‘Gii-gii!!’ ‘Giii!’

Four bats started to gather around.

The crest of the ‘Fire God’s Relentless Barrage, Ifrit Blow’ spell on their wings is gone. It eats up too much magic power.

However, the crest of the ‘Body Strengthening, Boosted’ spell remains.

“Yuuki Grossalia-sama!? What are you trying to do!?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself”

I said to Her Royal Highness.

Alice… no, Princess Iris, her silver hair fluttering in the air, is looking at me.

Alice and Iris… even their names are similar.

My previous life follows me even to this point.

Truly, humans are troublesome creatures.

“I’ll kill Kachel and protect you. I’m doing it for my family and for my past. Also, I’ll borrow one of your soldier’s back”

I ran up the soldier’s back and jumped with ‘Body Strengthening, Boosted’ x2.

“Fool! Don’t be conceited just because you can use ‘Ancient Magic’!!?”

The griffin flapped its wings and changed its course.

It’s trying to escape to a position I can’t reach.

But I’ve already anticipated that.

“Gather around! My servants!!”

‘‘‘‘Master ──── !!’’’’

At my signal, the four bats gathered and became a foothold.

All four of them have ‘Body Strengthening, Boosted’, so they are strong enough.

“Endure it. Dick!”

‘Got it!’

*Whack*

I used Dick and the others’ bodies as a foothold and jumped straight ahead.

“W-W-What the hell is that!? W-What the hell are you!?”

“You said it yourself, didn’t you? You said I was someone who doesn’t even know their origin. And you’re right, Private Tutor, Kachel!”

I thrust my dagger into the griffin’s neck.

At the same time, I press my left hand against the monster’s stomach.

My ‘Body Strengthening, Boosted’ x2 was activated using the bracelet and the crest on my left hand. And so my right hand is free.

That’s why I was able to draw the crest earlier.

“You know, magic should be used in such a way that it is absolutely certain to hit your target. Activate ‘Fire God’s Relentless Barrage, Ifrit Blow’”

‘Giiieeeeeeee!!’

── *BOOM* The griffin exploded.

The fire magic that was unleashed at a close distance burned the griffin from the inside and out.

“Gyaaaahhhh!!”

The flames that penetrated the griffin also scorched Kachel.

The griffin, now on fire, shrieked in pain and fell with Kachel still on its back.

“──── Gyaaaahhhh!!”

The griffin fell to the ground.

Kachel’s body followed suit and tumbled on the ground.

I ‘floated’ to slow down my fall and safely landed.

…Phew.

It’s the first time I’ve been in an aerial battle with this body, but somehow I managed.

“Yuuki Grossalia-sama… you’re amazing”

“‘Ancient Magic’ in close combat!? How is that possible…?”

“He’s got a bright future ahead of him. Even in the ‘Magic Guild’, there are only a few people with that kind of talent…”

“In the first place, a child of that age with familiars… where did he learn magic?”

The soldiers are making a lot of noise. But let’s leave it at that.

I’ve got things to do now.

“…The only thing left to do now is to get rid of Kachel”

“That’s not necessary. He’s done for”

said Her Royal Highness, interrupting me.

“He’s still alive… but your magic has seriously injured him. Besides, since he summoned that kind of familiar, he won’t have any magic power left. If he were to summon it forcefully, then he definitely ran out of magic power. That’s exactly what makes it so deadly”

“Don’t kill him, you say?”

“Kachel will be summoned to the ‘Magic Guild’ and will be punished accordingly. There’s no need for you, a future mage, to get your hands dirty. That’s all”

Princess Iris was looking straight at me.

…She looked just like Alice, whom I took care of two hundred years ago.

……Seriously, humans are cunning, aren’t they?

“…As Your Royal Highness wills it”

“Don’t say that while clicking your tongue, Yuuki Grossalia-sama”

“You heard me, huh? You have good ears, Your Royal Highness”

“…‘Ancient Magic’ ── ‘Spirit Summoning’ ── My beloved Ninth Priest of the ‘Sanctuary Church, Elysium Temple’ is hereby ──”

“Kachel!?”

He’s on the move again.

He was thrown off of the griffin and tumbled on the ground. His arm now bent in a strange direction.

Still, he is desperately trying to activate the ‘Ancient Magic’.

“…So what if I don’t have any magic power left? So what if I’m just a private tutor? I have… a plan to deal with situations like this. Why do you think… I was a tutor… for Xellos Grossalia. He only has… capacity for magic power…” 

“Uuuuhhhh!!” 

Suddenly, I heard a scream behind me.

There was Barnes-san, who was carrying a very pale-looking Xellos nii-sama on his back when I turned around.